One third of America is ruining Thanksgiving for the rest of us by ignoring COVID-19 — but it's easy to see why they have given up

 


  • Public health experts have been warning for months that Thanksgiving dinner is the perfect place for the coronavirus to spread, and suggesting people limit their feasts, just for this year, to single-household affairs.
  • Still, more than a third of Americans surveyed by Insider said they're not changing anything at all about how they run Thanksgiving 2020, despite the looming virus threat.
  • Many said they are traveling, and most said they are going to be mixing households without wearing masks or opening up windows.
  • By next year, vaccines will be widely available, making it very wise to hold off until Thanksgiving 2021 to do a big spread.
  • Still, it's difficult to blame Americans for doing the holidays-as-usual this year, given the utter failure of the country's leaders to rally together and get the virus under control in any way at all yet.
  • That is why, while empathetic to our innate desires to mingle, leading public health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have said time and time again: Stay home this Thanksgiving if you can, gather outdoors if you must, and keep any interactions with other households brief, small, masked, and well-ventilated.
  • Yes, a third of the country is undermining the collective good faith efforts of everyone else to stay isolated, and keep our medics, essential workers, elders, and other vulnerable individuals safe.
  • But it would be trite to see this third of the country as malicious people. Everyone is mentally and emotionally exhausted, from going months without "normal" family connections.
  • So, let's not direct our ire at our neighbors who may not be doing the right thing around the table this year. But, at the same time, don't let their indifference to the virus infect your home. You could truly save someone's life if you avoid big Thanksgiving celebrations until 2021.

  • One doctor says he doesn't blame patients for doing Thanksgiving as normal this year, he blames our leaders

  • The blame, he says, lies with public officials, who haven't made it clear how to stay safe during the pandemic, or provided the good leadership, testing, and contact tracing required to squash the virus down across the US. 
  • ALL THIS AND MORE:
  • https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-ignore-covid-19-to-have-thanksgiving-as-usual-2020-11


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